Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

E90/E91/E92/E93 (2006 - 2013) The E9X is the 4th evolution of the BMW 3 series including a highly tuned twin turbo 335i variant pushing out 300hp and 300 ft. lbs. of torque. BMW continues to show that it sets the bar for true driving performance! -- View the E9X Wiki

Dang, CA, I forgot about some of them, and only heard of the Facel Vega. Named after the Chevy Vega?

I almost bought a Facel Vega about 10 years ago. It was newly restored and the asking price was $50,000. They are still somewhat of a bargain but not to that degree.

Facel Vega was a French/American "Hybrid" (not in today's definition of a. "hybrid") and had a French designed chassis and coachwork with an American Chryler Hemi engine and Torqueflight transmission. One interesting piece of Facel Vega trivia is that Albert Camus died in the crash of a Facel Vega. The Dual Ghia was also a European American Hybrid and had Italian coachwork and chassis (from Ghia - yes the same Ghia that built the VW Karmann Ghia) and also had a Chrysler engine and transmission. The American production car sourced running gear makes both Facel Vega and Dual Ghias relatively inexpensive to maintain compared to cars like Ferraris and Maseratis of the same era. Famous Dual Ghia owners included Desi Arnaz, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Richard Nixon. There is a story that Ronald Reagan had one and lost it to Lyndon Johnson in a poker game but that may be an urban legend.

The Facel Vega HK500 may be Ms. Audio's all time favorite car. One or two of them usually show up at the Greenwich Concours.

I resurrected this thread because those who participated in last October's Fall Foliage Run met Sam and Ellen.

The front straightaway at Lime Rock Park is now officially known as "Sam Posey Straight".

Congratulations Sam! And thank you for all you have done for LRP.

It was successfully kept secret for weeks in order to surprise a racing legend; on Saturday, March 9, at the Amelia Island (Fla.) Concours d’Elegance, where this year’s honored guest was Sam Posey, Lime Rock Park owner Skip Barber announced that the track’s front straightaway is now officially Sam Posey Straight. Barber reported that Posey was rendered speechless by the surprise honor – no mean feat for one of the most erudite, articulate gentlemen you’ll ever meet.

Posey competed in just about every form of racing, including Can-Am, Trans-Am, World Endurance Championship, IMSA, Indy Cars, Formula 5000 and Formula 1. Since 1981, Posey has been one of the most sought-out TV racing announcers, and he’s also an accomplished writer, painter and artist. An avid model railroader, he authored Playing with Trains: A Passion Beyond Scale. Posey not only wrote an autobiography, The Mudge Pond Express, he won a sports writing Emmy in the early 1990s.“I know – we all know – that Sam deeply loves Lime Rock Park,” Barber said at the Saturday evening 'Mercedes-Benz U.S.A. Gala Dinner Honoring Sam Posey.' “He’s been racing here since he was a teen – he grew up five miles from the track. Sam was the first driver to lap the track in less than 60 seconds – that was a big, big deal when Sam did that, in 1967. He was driving a McLaren Can-Am car. And that was just two years after his very first race here, in a Formula Vee, a car that has less than a fifth of the power of that McLaren.

“Sam was able to use Lime Rock as a launching pad for what turned out to be an astoundingly steep early career path. One year after that FV race, he was racing a 350 horsepower Bizzarrini 5300 GT at Le Mans.

“And of course, we’ve been blessed that no less than three of the beautiful buildings here, including the now-iconic paddock tower, were designed by Sam,” Barber said.

Although Posey retired from professional driving in the 1980s, he has not retired from the cockpit; he still drives his PRS Formula Ford at speed during Lime Rock Drivers Club track days – consistently under a minute, to boot!

When Barber got back from Florida, he said, “I wanted to do this special thing, for Sam and Ellen and the kids, so that Sam could savor it, appreciate it, in the here and now. That’s not an opportunity commonly afforded. I’ll be sending him the revised track map in about a week...”

I resurrected this thread because those who participated in last October's Fall Foliage Run met Sam and Ellen.

The front straightaway at Lime Rock Park is now officially known as "Sam Posey Straight".

Congratulations Sam! And thank you for all you have done for LRP.

It was successfully kept secret for weeks in order to surprise a racing legend; on Saturday, March 9, at the Amelia Island (Fla.) Concours d’Elegance, where this year’s honored guest was Sam Posey, Lime Rock Park owner Skip Barber announced that the track’s front straightaway is now officially Sam Posey Straight. Barber reported that Posey was rendered speechless by the surprise honor – no mean feat for one of the most erudite, articulate gentlemen you’ll ever meet.

Posey competed in just about every form of racing, including Can-Am, Trans-Am, World Endurance Championship, IMSA, Indy Cars, Formula 5000 and Formula 1. Since 1981, Posey has been one of the most sought-out TV racing announcers, and he’s also an accomplished writer, painter and artist. An avid model railroader, he authored Playing with Trains: A Passion Beyond Scale. Posey not only wrote an autobiography, The Mudge Pond Express, he won a sports writing Emmy in the early 1990s.“I know – we all know – that Sam deeply loves Lime Rock Park,” Barber said at the Saturday evening 'Mercedes-Benz U.S.A. Gala Dinner Honoring Sam Posey.' “He’s been racing here since he was a teen – he grew up five miles from the track. Sam was the first driver to lap the track in less than 60 seconds – that was a big, big deal when Sam did that, in 1967. He was driving a McLaren Can-Am car. And that was just two years after his very first race here, in a Formula Vee, a car that has less than a fifth of the power of that McLaren.

“Sam was able to use Lime Rock as a launching pad for what turned out to be an astoundingly steep early career path. One year after that FV race, he was racing a 350 horsepower Bizzarrini 5300 GT at Le Mans.

“And of course, we’ve been blessed that no less than three of the beautiful buildings here, including the now-iconic paddock tower, were designed by Sam,” Barber said.

Although Posey retired from professional driving in the 1980s, he has not retired from the cockpit; he still drives his PRS Formula Ford at speed during Lime Rock Drivers Club track days – consistently under a minute, to boot!

When Barber got back from Florida, he said, “I wanted to do this special thing, for Sam and Ellen and the kids, so that Sam could savor it, appreciate it, in the here and now. That’s not an opportunity commonly afforded. I’ll be sending him the revised track map in about a week...”

The first person down that straight, the day of the official dedication, needs to be Sam himself.

I am going to try to put this together for October 5th.
I would once again like to do this as a fund raiser for the American Mural Project. I'll contact Ellen and see if we can tour the mill again and we should be able to arrange hot laps with Simon and possibly Bob Green in the Lime Rock Club M3s.

I am going to try to put this together for October 5th.
I would once again like to do this as a fund raiser for the American Mural Project. I'll contact Ellen and see if we can tour the mill again and we should be able to arrange hot laps with Simon and possibly Bob Green in the Lime Rock Club M3s.

Kat can we get a sticky on this?

CA

Sure.

Let me figure out how to do it!

__________________

If your sport doesn't put blood, dirt or grease under your fingernails,
then it's just a game.

I heard from Ellen Griesedieck and she is good with us visiting the American Mural Project Mill on Sunday October 6th. There is a very good possibility that husband Sam (Posey) will attend again.

I will have more details shortly but we will probably do something very similar to last year with dinner at The Boathouse in Lakeville on Friday, a visit to Lime Rock Park and a drive through the area with stops in Millbrook NY, Kent CT and Housatonic Meadows State Park ending with dinner at The Falls Village Inn on Saturday.

On Sunday a drive to the American Mural Project with a stop in Litchfield, CT on Sunday.

New to the forum and new to the 3Series (I am picking a 2013 328 in 2 weeks). But I owned a e28 M5 that I sold in 2010. I am interested in attending this Fall Drive. Is there a sign-on page with additional information about his drive?